Diaz dominated in title fight

SEATTLE - Benson Henderson's face was completely clear, looking no different than it did when he stepped into the octagon for his second title defense. Nate Diaz's right eye was purple, blue and black, thanks to Henderson's painful fists and elbows.

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Posted Dec. 9, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Posted Dec. 9, 2012 at 12:01 AM

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SEATTLE - Benson Henderson's face was completely clear, looking no different than it did when he stepped into the octagon for his second title defense. Nate Diaz's right eye was purple, blue and black, thanks to Henderson's painful fists and elbows.

Henderson came home and imposingly retained the UFC lightweight championship Saturday night during UFC on Fox 5, unanimously outpointing the flustered Stockton fighter.

Henderson controlled the main event from the start, just a few miles from where he grew up in Federal Way, taking a decisive 50-43, 50-45 and 50-45 decision, his second successful title defense.

Henderson improved to 6-0 with the UFC and 18-2 in his MMA career. Diaz fell to 16-8 after winning his last three fights. After the fight, with his right eye swollen and discolored, Diaz said after a first-round punch from Henderson his vision became blurry and never cleared up. Diaz said he was worried about getting any more aggressive against Henderson for fear of what might come back.

"Things got blurry. It never came back. I was waiting for it to recover," Diaz said. "I think if I tried any harder it could have gotten worse for me."

Prior to the main event, rising Canadian star Rory MacDonald took apart former champion B.J. Penn in a decisive unanimous decision.

In a light heavyweight bout, Sweden's Alexander Gustafsson won a unanimous decision over former champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, likely earning a shot at the light heavyweight title next year.